Kansas 90 - Texas 86

Comments and Observations

Where to begin?  The Longhorns' first half play made me wonder aloud, "How has this team ever lost to anyone?"  An observer watching me would have seen initial tension turn into anger, then despair, followed by a surreal sense of calm.  It ceased to feel like a basketball game, honestly.  It wasn't just Durant, although watching him with a closed jaw is next to impossible.  If Texas threw it up, it was nothing but nylon.  And when the dust settled after the first half, I was absolutely amazed that KU was within 12 points.  At that point, I had a strange feeling that it was KU's game to win.  Odds nearly always catch up, or at least come close.  And it didn't look like KU was having a rough day on offense.  Announcers and others say that KU started playing better defense in the 2nd half on Durant, with Rush leading the defensive charge.  I say that odds finally caught up.  UT was guarded on most of their jumpers during that stretch where they made 12 in a row in the 1st half.  Probability says something like that happens rarely, but it does happen strictly due to chance.  And that's what this was, mostly anyway.  Don't get me wrong, coaching matters.  In-your-face defense matters.  Toughness matters.  But 11-13 shooting from 3FG isn't all about skill.

In the end, this game showed me something that I'm scared to admit, because it's usually followed by disappointment for KU fans.  What it showed is that the Jayhawks are really, really good and really, really tough.  If KU doesn't make it to the Final Four, it won't be because of any weaknesses.  It will probably be because they blew it somewhere along the way.  That's how good they are, which is why KU fans are either going to be ecstatic or devastated once again this spring.

Four Factor Analysis

• eFG% - KU by 61-57%.  Defense anyone?
• TURNOVERS - Advantage to Texas 18.5-14.5%
• OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING - Significant edge to KU, 33-19%
• FREETHROW RATE (FTM/FGA) - Advantage for KU of 21-12%

CONCLUSION - Although Texas won the TO battle, KU still didn't turn it over much.  That was a key to staying with Texas in offensive efficiency.  Shooting and rebounding swung heavily in KU's favor in the 2nd half.  The edge in shooting, rebounding, and many more attempts at the freethrow line kept Texas away from the upset.

Player Performance Analysis

Kevin Durant was simply off the charts.  Okay, so he was on my charts ... just really, really high.  And this includes the fact that he only scored 7 points in the 2nd half.  Simply an unbelievable efficiency level for someone who plays most of the team's minutes.  Durant shot a jaw-dropping 73 eFG%, including 6-8 from 3FG to finish with 32 PTS, 9 REB, 2 AST, 4 STL, 2 BLK, 3 TO's and 1 TA (twisted ankle).  Some news stories out there will make a big deal out of the injury, but Durant scored 2 points in the 2nd half before the injury and 5 points after.  He was out just over three minutes due to the injury.  KU had already built a lead by the time Durant fell down.  Regardless, this was a heroic effort for a freshman playing for the first time in Allen Fieldhouse.

And oh, by the way, another Texas freshman had a pretty darn big game.  D.J. Augustin had 19 PTS, 13 AST, 4 REB and 3 TO's while shooting 2-4 from 3FG.  Augustin seemed to penetrate the KU defense at will, sometimes making off-balance jumpers.  This was a spectacular performance against one of the country's best defensive guard units.

The other major positive contributer for Texas was Damion James.  He shot 4-7 FG, made all 4 FT's and grabbed 7 REB to finish with 12 PTS.  Solid game for the solid James.

Matt Hill actually had the second most efficient game behind Durant for Texas.  It was surprising that Hill didn't have any blocks.  I figured at the very least, he could have swatted a couple away with his hair.

While Craig Winder and Connor Atchley both had somewhat neutral impacts because of such limited playing time, it also meant they were either quite efficient (Winder) or not at all efficient (Atchley).  Either way, neither was that big a factor in the game.

Mason and Abrams didn't play all that badly.  Mason shot poorly but had 2 offensive rebounds and 2 AST.  Abrams put up a bunch of points, scoring 18 PTS on 5-13 from 3FG, but he didn't do too much else (3 REB, 3 TO).

For Kansas, the best contributing player had to be Mario Chalmers.  Mario actually shot over 100 eFG%, going 5-5 from 3FG with 3 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL and 2 TO in 35 minutes.  He definitely lived up to the MVP status he held in my dashboard leading up to the game.

But there were many other players without whom this would not have ended up a victory.  Julian Wright had a huge game with 17 PTS, 13 REB (4 OR), 5 AST, 2 BLK and 3 TO.  His biggest contribution of the day though was a key block against Augustin's potential game-tying three-pointer with about 10 seconds left.  Except for taking an ill-advised 3FG and trying for too much on the dribble, Julian was sensational.  Jayhawk fans will just have to live with the fact that Wright will make spectacular plays a lot of times and unnecessarily risky ones at others.

It was also an outstanding game for Russell Robinson.  Some may just remember that he missed a couple of freethrows toward the end of the game, but KU wouldn't have been in a position to ice the game with freethrows if not for Robinson's strong effort.  He had an unusually big offensive game with 17 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK and 2 TO including 3-4 from 3FG.  Robinson's first 3FG of the day was a huge lift when it looked like Texas was about to explode.  He also had great hands on defense.

The other big performance came from the biggest guy, Sasha Kaun.  He actually had about as efficient a day as Chalmers.  In just 17 minutes, Kaun shot 3-6 FG, shocking 3-3 FT, with 5 REB (3 OR), 1 BLK and 1 STL with zero TO for the second consecutive game.  He picked a great time to have one of his best games ever.

Darnell Jackson played only 8 minutes.  I'm not sure why, since his production has been very good overall.  Regardless, he didn't put a ton of stats into the boxscore.  That's misleading though.  Both of Jackson's field goals were enthusiasm-generating dunks.

Though Brandon Rush's overall numbers looked pretty neutral, he must be given credit for his defense.  Early in the game, he had a huge block on a Texas fastbreak that could have broken KU's spirit if UT had converted.  In the second half, Rush was defending Durant while he was relatively quiet.  Though Durant's missed shots may have been partly due to the law of averages catching up, certainly the fact that Texas didn't utilize Durant as much had something to do with Rush's ability to stay with him.  Rush also shot well from the field (54 eFG%, 3-6 from 3FG) and made both his freethrows on his way to 15 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST and 1 BLK.  Unfortunately, he also had 4 TO's on a day when KU was extremely efficient, which explains some of his lackluster rating numbers.

At the bottom of the ratings for the second straight game are KU's much-heralded freshmen.  Perhaps they are learning how difficult it is to perform when there is so much pressure.  Better they learn now than in the postseason.  Sherron Collins has now been held scoreless in two straight games.  Not many would have believed that to be possible given his stellar play in conference season.  Nevertheless, this is a challenge that he and Arthur must face head on.  Fortunately, they both come off the bench and don't have to contend with all the talk of benching them.  And they're only freshmen.  Let's see what happens when they play a game or two against somewhat weaker opponents and maybe get their confidence back.  Collins' stroke is just too pure to keep him from scoring too long.  In this game, he missed a relatively easy layup and dribbled the ball of his own leg a couple of times.  And Arthur just needs to concentrate at the freethrow line.  Other than that, he's not playing all that badly.  He just needs to be more active on the glass.